Robert Anderson "Bob" Hoover (January 24, 1922 – October 25, 2016) was a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, who worked as a United States Air Force and civilian test pilot after the war, then as a flight instructor and an aviation record-setting air show display pilot for nearly 50 years until his retirement in 1999. Known as the "pilot's pilot", Hoover revolutionized modern aerobatic flying and has been described in many aviation circles as one of the greatest pilots ever to have lived.